We’re now going to engage Iran in “talks.” The president seems to believe that talking will solve all problems. This is based, I believe, on his worldview, which doesn’t truly recognize the Biblical doctrine of evil. Instead, he feels that whatever problems the world faces are the result of misunderstandings.
Well, I do think he misunderstands some things. There are evil people in the world who cannot be talked out of their evil designs. One of them is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the “leader” of Iran [if you believe the results of the latest election]. Yes, he speaks smoothly and even looks rather debonair with his neatly trimmed beard. He’s not usually seen ranting and raving. But it’s not the outward appearance that’s important—it’s what he is saying.
Ahmadinejad hates the Jews. He denies there ever was a Holocaust. Rather, that’s a Jewish lie perpetrated to deceive the world into helping the Zionist movement. Israel, therefore, must be destroyed—and not merely destroyed but wiped off the map.
How do you speak with someone like this? A realistic negotiator would realize this is all but impossible. An unrealistic negotiator would never catch on. I’m afraid that’s what we have.
Both the Bush and Obama administrations have issued warning after warning with respect to Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear weapons. We continue to give them grace periods. They don’t intend ever to respond positively to such warnings because they are empty . . . and Iran knows it. So they just keep saying that their development of a nuclear capability is for domestic purposes only; they simply want nuclear energy. Meanwhile, the world watches and worries.
The world has reason to worry. One hesitates to make the Hitler comparison because it’s been overdone, but here goes anyway: in the 1930s, all the world did about the Nazi threat was talk. We talked while Germany took back the Rhineland that was supposed to be demilitarized. We talked while German troops marched into Austria. We talked, and even signed a paper, allowing Hitler to take a part of Czechoslovakia. Then we watched as he conquered the entire country. And even then, we did nothing to stop him.
Is history really going to repeat? Are we going to wear ourselves out talking while Iran does as it pleases? Then will we stand by and do nothing as they try to destroy our only real ally in the Middle East? A poll of Israelis shows that only 4% view the Obama administration as a friend of Israel. I hope that perception is never tested.